India will not stop people-to-people contact with Pakistan: Jaishankar

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India will not stop people-to-people contact with Pakistan: Jaishankar

The Indian government has announced it will not stop people-to-people contact with Pakistan amid rising tensions between the South Asian neighbours.

Indian Foreign Secretary S Jaishankar during a meeting with Parliamentary Committee on External Affairs said: “People-to-people contact would continue and there was no plan to stop it,” the country’s media reported.

Tensions between Pakistan and India have escalated over the Kashmir issue and the Uri attack.

Following the Uri attack, it has become extremely difficult for Pakistani actors to work in Bollywood.  Extremist party MNS issued an ultimatum for Pakistani actors to leave India, while the Indian Motion Picture Producers Association (IMPPA) passed a motion prohibiting artistes from across the border to work in the industry.

Cinema owners and Exhibitors Association of India has also announced that it will not screen movies which have Pakistani actors in four states-Maharashtra, Karnataka, Goa and Gujarat.

India without any proof blamed Pakistan for the attack on the army base. India has also been violating the ceasefire at the Line of Control (LoC) and on September two Pakistani soldiers were martyred in a violation. India claimed it had carried out 'surgical strikes' but this claim was dismissed by Pakistan. The government of Narendra Modi has also been criticised by opposition parties in India for failing to provide any evidence of the surgical strikes claim.

The baseless Indian accusations are being seen as a measure to divert attention from human rights abuses in Kashmir where since July over 110 Kashmiris have been martyred by Indian forces.